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In the early 2010s, India was hungry—not just for food, but for convenience. Smartphones were becoming affordable, 3G was spreading, and a young, urban population was beginning to value time over tradition. Into this moment walked Foodpanda , a pink-branded, Berlin-born startup with a simple promise: your favourite food, delivered to your doorstep . This is the story of Foodpanda in India—not just a startup story, but a case study in ambition, speed, culture, and timing. Chap

Executive Summary Netflix's recommendation system represents one of the most sophisticated and publicly discussed applications of machine learning in consumer technology. Since transitioning from DVD rental to streaming in 2007, Netflix has positioned its recommendation algorithm as core competitive advantage—driving content discovery, user engagement, and retention in an increasingly crowded streaming market. According to Netflix's own disclosures in technical papers and exe

Executive Summary Nescafé, Nestlé's flagship instant coffee brand, launched the "#ItAllStarts" campaign in India in 2015 to reposition the brand from a functional morning beverage to an emotional enabler of new beginnings and personal transformation. The campaign represented a strategic shift in Nescafé's communication approach—moving from product-centric messaging to insight-driven storytelling that connected coffee consumption with meaningful life moments. This case examine

It was 2:47 AM when Kunal Shah posted a tweet that would change how millions of Indians think about credit cards. "Indians will download 15 apps to save ₹10, but won't spend 15 minutes understanding credit scores." Within hours, thousands had retweeted it. Not because CRED was selling anything in that moment, but because the brand had positioned itself so distinctly in people's minds that even a simple observation. That's the power of modern brand positioning. A Simple Story

Executive Summary Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (Jio), launched commercially on September 5, 2016, fundamentally restructured India's telecommunications industry through aggressive pricing, infrastructure investment, and strategic positioning. Within its first year of operation, Jio became one of India's leading telecom operators, transforming from a market entrant to a dominant player while catalyzing significant industry consolidation and changing consumer behavior across t

Executive Summary InterGlobe Aviation Limited, operating as IndiGo, has emerged as India's largest and most profitable airline since its launch in 2006. As of September 2024, IndiGo commands a 63.3% domestic market share, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The airline's success is built on a low-cost carrier (LCC) model combined with operational excellence, particularly in on-time performance. This case examines IndiGo's cost leadership strategy, o

Executive summary This case study examines how Nirma built a value-focused detergent proposition in India and contrasts it with the “prestige” end of the market broadly, while explicitly limiting claims about Surf (Surf Excel).  Surf Excel, part of Hindustan Unilever Limited’s (HUL) detergent portfolio, represents the opposite end of the spectrum. While Surf had been positioned as a higher-end detergent for decades, the launch of Surf Excel in 1996 formalized its premium stra

Executive Summary Amazon Prime Day, launched in July 2015, represents a strategically engineered sales event designed to drive Prime membership acquisition, increase customer lifetime engagement, and establish a mid-year retail tentpole in traditionally slow shopping periods. Unlike traditional promotional events tied to cultural calendars, Prime Day was created exclusively by Amazon as a membership-gated shopping experience, fundamentally altering retail dynamics and competi

Executive Summary In November 2013, Google India launched a 3-minute, 31-second advertisement titled "Google Search: Reunion" as part of its broader efforts to demonstrate product utility and build emotional connection with Indian consumers. The campaign, created by Ogilvy & Mather India, told the story of two childhood friends separated during the India-Pakistan Partition of 1947, who reconnect through their granddaughters using Google Search. According to reports in Campaig

If you’ve been in marketing long enough, you know this truth: Virality is not luck — it’s engineered. Whether it’s Zomato’s savage one-liners, Amul’s topical ads, Tinder India’s cultural storytelling, or even a creator like Raj Shamani breaking the Internet every week — viral content follows patterns . And once you learn these patterns, you can replicate them across formats, platforms, and campaigns. This is what I call The Viral Content Pattern Framework  — a structured way

Executive Summary Britannia Industries Limited, established in 1892, has transformed from a legacy biscuit manufacturer into India's leading food company through strategic repositioning, category expansion, and operational modernization. Under the leadership of Varun Berry (appointed Managing Director in 2013), the company repositioned itself from a narrow "biscuit brand" to a broader "total foods company," expanded its portfolio beyond biscuits into dairy, bread, cakes, and

Executive Summary Meesho, founded in 2015, evolved from a social commerce reseller platform into one of India's largest e-commerce players focused on tier-2, tier-3, and tier-4 markets. The company strategically pivoted from enabling individual resellers to building a consumer-facing marketplace targeting price-sensitive users in smaller cities and towns—collectively termed "Bharat" in Indian startup parlance. This case examines Meesho's platform design choices, zero-commissi

Executive Summary Apple's "Shot on iPhone" campaign, launched in January 2015, represents one of the most sustained user-generated content (UGC) marketing initiatives in consumer technology. The campaign showcased photographs and videos captured by iPhone users on billboards, print advertisements, television commercials, and digital platforms globally. This case examines Apple's strategic approach to leveraging customer-created content to demonstrate product capability, build

Executive Summary Asian Paints, India's largest paint company by market share, strategically expanded beyond functional paints into the premium home décor segment through multiple brand extensions and retail format innovations. The company launched Beautiful Homes Service  (interior design and execution), and Asian Paints Home Décor  to capture higher wallet share from consumers upgrading their homes. This case examines how a category leader in paints leveraged brand equity,

Executive Summary Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited ("Jio"), launched commercially on September 5, 2016, by Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), executed one of the most aggressive market entry strategies in global telecommunications history. By offering free voice calls and data at approximately ₹50/GB compared to the industry average of ₹200-300/GB, Jio acquired 100 million subscribers within 170 days of launch—the fastest such acquisition globally at that time, according to RIL'

Executive Summary Nescafé, Nestlé's instant coffee brand, launched the "Badalti Coffee, Badalta India" (Changing Coffee, Changing India) campaign in India during 2023-2024 to reposition instant coffee within the context of India's aspirational youth demographics and evolving beverage consumption patterns. The campaign represented a strategic shift from product-centric messaging to cultural positioning, attempting to link instant coffee adoption with broader narratives of pers

Executive Summary Blinkit (formerly Grofers) pivoted from a traditional hyperlocal grocery delivery model to creating India's quick commerce category with a 10-minute delivery promise. Founded in 2013 as Grofers by Albinder Dhindsa and Saurabh Kumar, the company rebranded to Blinkit in December 2021 and was subsequently acquired by Zomato in August 2022 for approximately ₹4,447 crore. This case examines the strategic pivot from marketplace to dark store-led quick commerce, th

Executive Summary Tata Tea's "Jaago Re" (Wake Up) campaign, launched in 2007, represents a pioneering example of purpose-driven marketing in India. The campaign transformed a commodity tea brand into a cultural movement by connecting product consumption with civic awakening and social consciousness. According to interviews with campaign architects, Jaago Re was developed by Lowe Lintas (now Mullen Lintas) and positioned Tata Tea beyond functional benefits to address voter apa

Executive Summary Zepto, founded in 2021 by Stanford dropouts Aadit Palicha (19) and Kaivalya Vohra (17), pioneered the 10-minute grocery delivery model in India's quick commerce sector. The company raised over $1.35 billion across multiple funding rounds by December 2024, achieving a valuation of $5 billion in its June 2024 Series F round, according to multiple reports from Bloomberg and Economic Times. As of late 2024, Zepto announced plans for an initial public offering (I

Executive Summary In January 2022, Tata Sons reacquired Air India for ₹18,000 crore ($2.4 billion), marking the return of the airline to its founding family after 69 years of government ownership. The acquisition included Air India, Air India Express, and a 50% stake in ground handling company AISATS. The case examines Tata's strategic approach to reviving a debt-laden, operationally challenged national carrier through rebranding, fleet modernization, service redesign, and or